Posco posted sales of 11.871 trillion won in the second quarter of this year, up 599 billion won from 11.272 trillion won in the first quarter. Operating profit was 1.322 trillion won, up 10.3 percent from 1.199 trillion won in the first quarter, but down 17.8 percent from 1.608 trillion won in the same period last year. In the second quarter, POSCO's operating profit margin was 11.1 percent, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, but down 6.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Lower steel sales and higher raw material costs impacted operating profit by 90 billion won and 811 billion won, respectively, compared with the first quarter. However, higher average steel selling prices and cost cuts contributed 1.024 trillion won to operating profit, driving PoSCO's second-quarter operating profit growth from the previous quarter.